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Animal profile

Haast's Eagle

Hieraaetus moorei

AvesForest and shrubland of the South Island of New ZealandExtinct

Field profile

Haast's eagle was the largest eagle known, with females weighing an estimated ten to fifteen kilograms and a wingspan of roughly two and a half to three metres. It hunted moa in the forests of New Zealand's South Island. It disappeared soon after its prey, around the fifteenth century.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-07-06

Haast's Eagle

The largest eagle evolved from a small one, fast

DNA places Haast's eagle among the little eagles of the genus Hieraaetus, whose living members weigh about a kilogram. The lineage gained roughly ten to fifteen times that mass in under two million years, one of the fastest size increases documented in vertebrates.

Read with evidence →

Haast's Eagle | Daily Animal Facts